Wayland School Committee approves $550,000 capital request, defers diploma vote

WAYLAND — December 3, 2025 — Wayland School Committee approves $550,000 capital ask and delays competency determination vote two weeks. Members unanimously forwarded the priorities to the Capital Improvement Planning Committee, which meets Dec. 9, including $350,000 to match a state PRISM grant for a four-year reading and literacy curriculum adoption and $200,000 to replace school walkie-talkies and align frequencies with Wayland police and fire. Superintendent David Fleischman warned that without the local match, "you can't access that money." High School Principal Allison and Director of Finance Betsy Gavron presented a draft competency determination requiring mastery of half the grade-10 standards in biology, algebra, English 9 and 10, and U.S. History, but Chair Erin Gibbons asked for two weeks to digest it. Kate Sambuco pressed for consistency: "If there is no standard, what is the standard?"